xriva

You should remember officers are also managers, and being visible is just MBWA (management by walking around.)

I appreciate the fact they are visible, and the cruises with visible officers seem to provide better service.

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I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the cruise, and I understand the objections. We went on the Bliss in August for our first Alaska cruise, and we’ve already booked for next year on the Joy.

The funny thing is - I don’t remember that much about the ship! We had an aft balcony and we spent most of our time out there, just watching the scenery.

Scenery is not for everyone. I took my son on a train trip when he was young, from San Antonio to Dallas. 30 miles outside of San Antonio, he had read all the books, done all his puzzles and eaten all his snacks. I finally just said, “Just look at the scenery!” He said, “There’s no scenery out there - it’s just cows and trees.”

So, to each his own.

I had looked at the map before we sailed and realized we were barely seeing Alaska. The cruise from Seattle is basically like driving from Shreveport to Dallas, stopping at three small towns, and claiming you’ve seen Texas. But, it’s a sampler.

It’s really all you get on any cruise, except Bermuda.

We enjoyed the change from beaches and mountains to mountains and ice. We did the Bering Sea Crab Fishermans Tour, which was great, and saw flocks of bald eagles. We did two whale watching tours and saw enough sticking out of the water to know it was a whale both times. We did the White Pass train - actually the bus up, and the train back.

So, we had fun - and we had family who were rookie cruisers in tow and survived that, as well.

I was more insulted by the prices in Seattle than Alaska. Alaska, I understand - everything comes by ship, limited selection, and so forth. Seattle just gouges people during cruise season because they can.

I would like to do a one-way or a combo land-sea, but I don’t have the time off available. So, we will do “taster” cruises until I do, even though I may have to contend with Seattle.

The port times were very strange. I didn’t like getting up earlier on vacation than I do at home! We were in Victoria in the evening, but it was still light enough to go whale watching.

The glaciers were amazing (we sailed down Endicott Arm) and we went to Mendenhall Glacier in port.

I do see how some will look and see majesty, and some see a pile of ice.

It is quite an investment just to find out you’re not impressed with ice.

I hope everyone will read both sides and research it. It’s not cheap. It’s not sandy beaches and margaritas. The weather can be iffy. We were blessed with rain in the early morning that stopped just as we headed out for excursions. For some, it’s a life-changing experience. For others, it’s a cold, wet cruise.

Enjoy the Caribbean! We do, as well. We’ve just added a new destination to our list.

Kevin

(Still not convinced this isn’t their largest employee in a whale suit.)

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Just talked to our PCC and it sounds like the free air is from the West Coast. My guess is it’s Alaska Airlines. Airfare supplement was $299 from DFW which is insane (we paid about that for Southwest this year). Plus, if you want to fly in the day before (we always do), you have to stay at their chosen hotel (the Crowne Plaza downtown at $450 approx), and at that point, it was much cheaper to do it ourselves.

We still got $100 OBC and 2 Free at Sea choices. Our PCC still sold a cruise. Win-win, I guess.

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EXACTLY Xriva, That is exactly what I want to do. We did it before on a ship that allowed carry-on wine and the wine was a big favorite!

Just give people enough warning so they have time to find something that reflects their home. Texans need about five minutes to find something Texas-shaped, other States may take longer :)

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We use them for returning from Transatlantics, as well. One-way international can be brutal. Everywhere else, we just book our own.

For an interesting gift exchange, ask everyone to bring a gift that reflects their home (city, state, country.) We had one that was also a white elephant exchange and everyone wanted the Canadian maple syrup!

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You prepare a three-course meal (appetizer, main (chicken or fish) and dessert), not just salsas, then eat your creations for lunch. Open bar while you cook. It’s fun.

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I don't think xriva meant that he would put a pet sitter as an emergency contact, but rather that whomever has been designated as the emergency contact could inform the pet sitter that her services would be needed for two more days because the ship will be arriving back to port late.

Exactly. “Oh, they’re just going to be late” can be a big deal, and there are people (pet sitters, work) that need to be notified, and it’s much cheaper and easier from a land line that is probably in the same time zone than it is from a ship at sea.

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That seems a little overkill when the passenger is an adult. I would think the emergency contact would be used when you are seriously sick, injured, or deceased. The ship running late doesn’t require intervention from an emergency contact.

 

 

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It does if you have pets, and your pet sitter needs to know that you’re going to be gone another two days.

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The fast alternative to a standard Slot Pull is to have all the participants meet at a predetermined time, and as a group, throw your money into the sea.

Unfortunately, this is not legal.

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Poker Crawl. Five decks of cards at various places around the ship. Everyone draws one card and moves on to the next deck of cards. At the end, highest hand wins. Not exactly real poker, but will kill some time on a sea day.

Combinable with a pub crawl or cabin crawl.

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I fly to Nassau at least once a year for vacation. As do hundreds of thousands of others. I really think the "can't visit the same port twice" people are a very small yet vocal crowd. Spending a day or two at the same destination is pretty normal vacationing practice for most people.

 

I love mega ships and I care where I'm going. But the same way I can visit Disney more than once, or hang out on a favorite beach more than once, I can certainly find an amazing activity more than once at the same port. As I'm sure a vast majority of cruisers feel as well. I'd be willing to bet that the people who scream the loudest about the same ports, haven't done but a fraction of the activities at these ports. Many of these ports have 40+ sponsored excursions and countless private options....

 

There is plenty of cruise options that visit nearly every port in the Caribbean. Just go with a boutique line of that is very important to you.

It's not that important to me. My point was that my stated original goal in unobtainable without changing cruise habits and being ready to sail at any time. If the only time you have is Christmas, you have what you can take.

There is another small but vocal group that are always bitching the "new ships never come here." Well, New York got a new ship -- dedicated to the city -- and then bitched that it was old, so they got another one, and it's still just going to Bermuda or Florida and the Bahamas. So, some people care about the ship a lot more than the destination.

My only point was -- to the original question of the thread -- new ships do old routes because people are sailing on them to be on a new ship and they don't care about where it goes.

I've been to Cozumel so many times, the shopkeepers meet my wife at the dock. It's like a second home. I don't mind that - there's always something to do there. I've given up on my original goal.

For all the people complaining about mediocre ports for the Bliss, why didn't you go to Alaska? We did, and it was an amazing trip. Sail down the West Coast. Do the Mexican Riviera. Do the Panama Canal.

If you limit yourself to only sailing from Miami and only sailing in the holidays, you're going to see a lot of repeated journeys. Don't be surprised.

Maybe "boring old ports" has more to do with the fact most cruisers probably don't cruise all that much. So who cares if they hit Nassau or St Thomas once every few years?

The challenge that I see is that there are people who do cruise annually - we go on a cruise every Christmas. When we started nine years ago, I said, "I want a different ship every year, and I want different ports every year!" Well, best of luck with that, unless you change lines.

Now, part of it is the season, and I recognize that, and we did have a couple of really nice Southern Caribbean cruises in the past few years, but if you want to go on a new ship at Christmas, you're going to the Big Three in the East or the Big Three in the West. That's it.

So, I assume megaships are built for people kicking the tires, trying a cruise instead of a resort, wondering if they're going to get seasick. They don't care where they're going -- they're "on a cruise."

The older ships get more interesting itineraries, longer routes, and different ports because the people that sail them care where they're going -- not how they get there.

So, if you say to yourself, "I want to sail on the Bliss!", you've discounted where you are going. If you say, "I really want to do the ABCs again", your ship may be chosen for you.

Do you want them to chose your ship or your ports?

But I guess this really raises a bigger question... do people take cruises mainly to experience the ship? Or is it just a cheaper and easier way to visit a bunch of cities in a week than flying?

 

Many people who do European med cruises would say, "I'm doing it to see the cities! the ship is the just the place I sleep and eat on to get there".

This has been discussed before. Nobody knows.

Cruise lines are building ships “for millennials.” Apparently, millennials want rope courses, go karts, laser tag and all the other crap that now clutters up the upper decks of the larger ships.

I don’t use any of that, so I think it’s a complete waste of space. I also don’t really want to be around four thousand people when I can be around two thousand instead.

My assumption is that if people are playing on the big ship’s toys all day, it really doesn’t matter what the ports are - which is lucky, since big floating hotels can’t dock at many of the smaller, more interesting, less commercial ports.

This is unfortunate for those of us who don’t want to go to Cozumel (west) or St Thomas (east) every bloody cruise.

Some ports are working on expanding their facilities to handle the larger ships, but it won’t happen overnight.

That’s my understanding of hot new ship = boring old ports.

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Officially, no. You’re still going on a cruise. It’s still a week on the Escape. Your cruise agreement you signed states they can change ports, ships, routes, pretty much anything with no compensation. That doesn’t mean you won’t get some OBC for your trouble.

It’s hurricane season. It happens. This is why cancel for any reason or route change insurance is a really good idea.

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I would think one issue with Havana may be getting twice as many visas as a Jewel-class ship. I wonder what the costs would be. I also wonder if they have the infrastructure to support a large ship.

Infrastructure is usually the issue with ports. The bigger the ship, the fewer the ports where it can dock - and they don’t want to tender that many people.

You can sail out of New Orleans, Tampa or San Juan, on the Epic or Breakaway-class ships.

Most of the large ships will do Panama twice a year, on the way back and forth to Alaska (unless they do a Transatlantic to Europe.)

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I don't travel with kids, but the Jade is my favorite ship. She was just in dry dock, so she's been refreshed recently, it's easy to find your way around, and it can give you the feeling of being on a ship as opposed to a hotel that floats (this can be good or bad.) We have been on longer itineraries on the Jade and there was always something to do, even if it was just watching the ocean go by.

You probably only have a couple of sea days in that itinerary (it does sound nice), in which case you'll be in ports more than wondering what to do onboard.

https://www.ncl.com/faq/liquor-beverage-policy

$15 per bottle corkage fee, paid as you board.

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Just beware it may show up on their amenities page, since it will be booked to their room.

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They need a photography package that is digital only.

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Sometimes, travel agents will block book rooms, so they are no longer available from the cruise line, but will release them later if not sold. In that case, the travel agent can only sell you a room they have - not whatever room you would like. Still, it could get you on the ship (or boat.)

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Just curious - did they show you the photo right after they took it? How would you know if you wanted to buy it? I would not like a sales pitch in the middle of dinner either. On my honeymoon my husband and I sailed the Pearl and had a couples massage - which was out of this world good! BUT DUE to the sales pitch of product after we had them done RUINED my experience of being relaxed and content. Due to that I will never get a massage on a ship again.

They print the photo, mount it (sic) in a folder and present it. If you buy it, you just take it.

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Look at freighter cruises. It can take 30+ days just for a Transatlantic.

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We used room service

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The Captain doesn’t just sail the ship. He’s the CEO of the ship. The attitude of the crew starts with his attitude, and is implemented by the Hotel Director (and the Staff Captain, but most passengers don’t deal with the back of the house staff much.)

So, if you find a ship you enjoy, it may be the tons of steel, but it is also the crew that waited on you, helped you find stuff, lead the games and so forth.

I’ve noticed that some Captains are ambassadors for the line, and are visible during the cruise. Some drive the ship and come out for twenty minutes for photos. To some people, it will make a difference which type you have.

If all you want is to relax and be left alone, then it doesn’t matter as much, but I think a fun Captain makes a fun crew.

Then, there are those who “collect” staff. You will see their posts here, as they will say, “I was talking to Phil last week, and he said he was on vacation next month.”

I don’t need to be friends with senior staff but I do like knowing who they are. It’s not something I would change a cruise over - but it can add a sense of predictability to a new ship, if you’ve sailed with the senior staff before.

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